A man targeted in a shooting in Savage last week avoided injury after the bullet hit the cellphone inside his pants pocket, according to criminal charges against the alleged gunman.
Sounthone Lothirath, 47, of Shakopee, was arrested Friday and faces three felony charges in connection with the shooting, which happened around 11:50 a.m. on Oct. 21 in the 13100 block of Independence Avenue.
While police initially said one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries, charges against Lothirath reveal the victim, a 40-year-old man, was ultimately uninjured.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim told police Lothirath ran a stop sign and nearly crashed into him on the road moments before the shooting.
The victim said Lothirath then followed him to a customer’s house, confronted him and made threats to kill him.
According to charges, the victim told Lothirath he was “tweaking out over a stop sign” despite Lothirath being at-fault in the incident.
That’s when Lothirath allegedly told the victim he lived around the corner and to “stay right there”, making threats to kill him.